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An excerpt of the book that brought to life a shocking Toronto high society murder in the early part of the 20th century.

Charlotte Gray has been shortlisted for a 2014 Toronto Book Award for her book The Massey Murder. (Provided by International Festival of Authors)

The Massey Murder by Charlotte Gray.

Mon., Aug. 25, 2014

It’s the 40th anniversary of the Toronto Book Awards and the shortlist for 2014 has just been released. Charlotte Gray’s The Massey Murder made the cut, along with four other books that add to the literary landscape of this city. Each day for the next five days, the Star will run an excerpt from one of the shortlisted titles. The winner will be announced in a gala at the Toronto Reference Library on October 16.

Excerpt from Charlotte Gray’s The Massey Murder, in which the historian brings to life the shocking Toronto high society murder of Bert Massey by a maid in the early part of the 20th century.

Before Bert Massey reached home, he met Ernest Pelletier, the sixteen-year-old paper boy who had just delivered a copy of the Toronto Daily Star to the Massey house. Massey flashed his most charming smile as he pulled out a quarter to pay for delivery of the Star for the previous month. Ever since Christmas, the war in Europe had dominated the Star’s front page: today, the news was that Britain’s Russian allies had attacked German troops in the Carpathians on the eastern front, and its French allies had dynamited a German trench on the western front. As usual, the Star had found a poignant local human-interest story for the middle of the page. A short article described how, the day after a local woman had received an official telegram informing her that her husband was dead, a letter had arrived from him containing the message, “Cheer Up Girlie, I’ll Be Home by May.”

Bert Massey turned off the sidewalk towards his front door. He had no idea what awaited him.

Behind the front door stood the Massey family’s English domestic servant, Carrie Davies. Carrie was a mere slip of a girl, a mousy eighteen-year-old who rarely spoke unless spoken to. She was one of hundreds of thousands of demure little housemaids in cities all over the English-speaking world, from Sheffield to Chicago, Manchester to Melbourne, Tunbridge Wells to Toronto. In her black dress, white cap, and starched apron, Carrie blended into the background décor that, similarly, scarcely varied across continents — heavy velvet curtains, dark wood panelling, framed sepia photographs. In the bourgeois world of 1915, the Carrie Davieses barely merited a glance, let alone a footnote in history. Women like her formed the silent army that kept households humming, and yet remained almost invisible to many of its employers. Carrie’s life was particularly exhausting because she was Bert and Rhoda Massey’s only servant. They couldn’t afford the army of cooks, butlers, parlour maids, and lady’s maids that kept up the houses of richer Masseys. Carrie had to do everything, during days that began at six in the morning and might not finish until well after 9 p.m.

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But tonight, this particular young woman carried a gun — Bert Massey’s own .32-calibre Savage automatic pistol. Such guns (“The most powerful, accurate and rapid fire pistol invented”) were available in the Eaton’s catalogue for $18. And she was standing close to the door because she had just told the paper boy that her employer was not yet home. When she heard Bert Massey mount the steps to the verandah, she raised her right arm. At first, Bert did not see her in the shadows. Then Carrie pulled the door open and stepped forward. A shot rang out. A sharp pain erupted in Bert’s left side. He gaped at the young woman before backing quickly down the steps. A second shot rang out. Bert had barely reached the street before he fell and the life began to drain out of him. Carrie Davies lowered the gun, turned round, and disappeared into the house, shutting the door behind her.

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